AMAZING STORY
Joyce Meyer: Get Your Hopes Up
Produced
By Annika Young
Interview by Wendy Griffith
The 700 Club
CBN.com -Joyce Meyer speaking: “Say goodbye to those bad attitudes. It’s a new day.”
Wendy Griffith reporting: “Joyce Meyer is one of the worlds leading bible teachers and authors. Known for her transparency and matter of fact style, she ministered to millions of people through her books, conferences, and her television show, Enjoying Everyday Life.”
“I know this is hard to stomach. And don’t you turn the TV off.”
Wendy reporting: “I sat down with Joyce in her studio to discuss her latest book.”
Wendy: “You’ve written over 100 books now, which is incredible. But why a book on hope, and why now?”
Joyce: “Well first of all, you know, I just feel like the times that we’re living in are just so hopeless. And I don't know about anybody else, but I am so tired of hearing negative, negative, and just nothing good. And I still believe there are good things happening.”
Wendy: “In the book you talk about hope is a transformative force. In fact, you say it’s the most powerful force in the universe.”
Joyce: “Well, obviously we know that God is the most powerful force in the universe. But if we follow His example, then we’re going to experience a power like we never have before.”
“Well Joyce, I just can’t help the way I feel. Well actually, that’s just not true.”
Joyce: “And you really, you can’t expect anything in your life to change if you’re going to be saying all the time that you’re afraid it’s not going to change. And so we need to believe that good things are about to happen at any moment. I think that allows us to get up everyday and live more with a sense of adventure. Kind of like, ‘I can’t wait to see what God is going to do today.’”
Wendy: “You say that hope is a choice. How so?”
Joyce: “You know, even if you start to feel your mood sinking or something, right away say Holy Spirit, help me. He’s our Helper. We don’t have to just try to do things on our own. We can ask Him to help us. Help me remember to keep my hope up.”
Wendy: “And faith and hope are very closely connected. Why is hope directly proportional to faith?”
Joyce: “Well, I think a lot of people are trying to have faith, but they don’t have hope. So let’s explain what hope is first. Hope is a happy anticipation that something good is going to happen. How many people do you know that would say well, I’m believing God for this, or I’m trusting God for that, but they have a totally negative attitude and a negative conversation. Everything’s down, their words, their, you know, going through, you know, just the—their whole demeanor is down. But yet they’ll say they trust in God. So I think that hope is like the springboard to faith. I don’t –I don’t see how we can have real faith if we’re not hopeful and expecting God to do His best in our life.”
Wendy: “Well, because faith is the substance of things hoped for.
Joyce: “Right, exactly. And hope is an expectation of good. It’s not just like ‘well, I hope something good happens.’ That’s more like wishing, you know. But the Bible kind of hope is an expectation that God is who He says He is, that He is of His Word, and that if we put our faith in Him, something good is going to happen in our life.”
Wendy: “And you said too that even if nothing amazing happens, the fact that you lived with hope for that day makes it a better day anyway.”
Joyce: “The thing is, is the more we talk about our problems, the more we magnify the problems. It’s good to learn to look at things with God’s perspective.”
Wendy reporting: “Joyce says it’s a lesson she had to learn for herself.”
“I know that I sin and miss the mark everyday. But I’m not focused on it anymore. I don’t go around keeping lists of everything that’s wrong with me because I just consider that I’m in Christ. Amen?
Wendy: “We see Joyce Meyer on TV, preaching in the conferences and writing books. But anything we don’t know about you that you do for fun that you like to, you know.”
Joyce: “Well, you know what, I think that rather than just doing something for fun, I think we need to learn to really enjoy everything that we do. Because I had this attitude for a long time, I’ll sure be glad when I get done working and then I can thus and so. And then it just occurred to me one day, why can’t I enjoy this. And enjoy my home. Don’t just live in my home; enjoy my home. And I really like my morning coffee. So don’t be thinking about something that I got to solve over here while I’m drinking it. 05:00:09 Why not just sit and talk with God and enjoy it.”
Wendy reporting: “She also enjoys a good workout, believe it or not.”
Joyce: “I’m almost at 10 years now. I started when I was 62, I think, and I just had my 72nd birthday. (Wendy: “You look amazing.”) Thank you. I do, I work out three times a week and I do enjoy that.”
Wendy: “Oh, come on. You really enjoy it every time?”
Joyce: “You know, now once in awhile I’ll have a hard day where I’m like I can’t wait to get this over with. But I have a great trainer and honestly I can tell him ‘you know what, I cannot stand that exercise.’ And he’ll say ‘I can find five other ways to exercise that muscle; we’ll find one that you like.’”
Wendy: “Of all the different things you’re doing, the TV and the writing and preaching, is there—do you have a favorite?”
Joyce: “Oh, teaching is my passion.”
“I would like to personally thank you for allowing me to teach you the word of God. I enjoy it and I am glad to participate in your spiritual growth. Amen?”
Joyce: “I mean, when I’m in –in God’s anointing and just teaching the Word and seeing how it affects people, I just—I love that. That’s the call on my life. I love that.”
Wendy: “What do you hope readers will take away from Get Your Hopes Up?”
Joyce: “I want people to take away that their thoughts, and their attitude, and their words belong to them. And that they don’t have to be led around by feelings or lack of feelings. That they can choose to be led by the Spirit.”
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